Astronaut can utilize the Newton's third law of motion to his rescue. He can move his hammer in the backward direction( of which he intends to go) and thus move forward.
Explanation
Caught in such a critical situation, Astronaut's hammer can come to his rescue. He/she can utilize the Newtonian's third law to his advantage.
Newton's third law of the motion says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction provide the action and reaction does not act on the same body. Modern-day rockets and spacecraft work on the practical application of the above-mentioned principle.
Thus utilizing the above-mentioned principle, he could repeatedly tend to throw (but not actually throwing else he would lose his hammer too) in the backward direction to generate an equal and opposite forward momentum. Since space has no medium, resistance would supposedly be zero. Hence even small force generated can make him drift towards his spaceship.
Answer:
The astronaut can throw the hammer in a direction away from the space station. While he is holding the hammer, the total momentum of the astronaut and hammer is 0 kg • m/s. According to the law of conservation of momentum, the total momentum after he throws the hammer must still be 0 kg • m/s. In order for momentum to be conserved, the astronaut will have to move in the opposite direction of the hammer, which will be toward the space station.
Explanation:
